Memorial Day memories

Because I am saving my Half Year Resolutions for the 4th of July, here's some Memorial Day musings. In list formation, because you know how I love a list.

Wild lupine and honeysuckle at the trail head.

1. I feel a little bad that I didn't thank the troops on facebook for making freedom possible (yes, I am a very bad American....), but I would like to point out that Memorial Day is for remembering those who were lost at war. Presumably, they do not have profiles or regularly read them. 

2. As was outlined nicely on Salon (albeit in a weird sports kind of way), the military doesn't have much to do with freedom. If you're a philosophical sort, you will probably know either that free will does not exist, or that freedom is intrinsic and cannot be granted, it just is. 

Richard photographing his grandfather's grave

3. That being said, I do have many fond memories of accompanying the marching band for the high school my dad worked at to various rural Memorial Day parades in the 1970s. At least, I think they were Memorial Day parades, since they often went by or stopped at the town cemetery, which you wouldn't ordinarily do for the Blossom Queen parade. 

4. We rode our bikes today down the rail trail that would have gone through a few of these small towns, had we the energy to keep going. 

5. This gave me plenty of time to think about the interconnected nature of things. For example, as well as thanking the troops, who may not have directly "given" me my "freedom", we should probably thank everyone for everything. I was particularly struck by one section of the bike trail, where wildflower restoration was going taking place. I happen to know the woman who the project for the last 5 years. I don't think your average bicyclist or jogger would know that it had taken numerous volunteers 5 years of removing invasive plants to make the display you see today. They just take it for granted. 

6. So even though I am a reservedly non-patriotic American, you can't have America without me. And I thank you for your service, whatever it is you do. 

But I haven't got a thing to wear...

It's a well known quirk of mine that I have a rotating uniform for the office. (Because I love clothes, I couldn't have just one uniform, you know.) Monday is a sweater, Tuesday a skirt, Wednesday a scarf, Thursday a jacket, and Friday is for dresses.

But I don't really have a uniform for weekends or fun time. And I suspect because I like to leave things unplanned to see what happens, thus unintentionally hindering my fun while I stress about what to wear. Seriously, this happens. Ask The Smiths!

So, today I made a list of things that happen on the weekend, and what I might want to wear. This may seem like a lot of rules, but I think of it more like parameters. Because unlimited choices means anything but freedom to me. It's more like overwhelm. Because if you can wear anything, then you'll need to try on everything, right?

Which somehow lead to the bigger breakthrough. I'm afraid it will slip away again, so I'm going to write it in all caps, despite the fact it's not very catchy. I MAKE SYSTEMS TO GET THE DUMB DETAILS DOWN SO THE JUICY OTHER STUFF CAN HAPPEN. It's as big or small as you let it be, I suppose. Yes, what I'm wearing is small. But it lets the other stuff happen, right?

What's the other stuff? Always in motion is the future. Yeah, I just quoted Yoda.

The Laptop's Lament

If the warranty emails from my laptop brand are to be believed, this thing is 1 year old. This shiny, solid-state, over-stimulated mouse control hunk-o-junk was purchased specifically to write this blog. And yet, weeks of silence happen.

Is there more coffee?

It's not because I don't want to write. It's about making the time, making some dinner, getting there on time, scrolling through distraction. I wish it was more about gazing at the morning sun on my cat, or hiking trips, or a meditation retreat or something, but I guess it's just poor time management. The tools are ready.

So here's to trying harder. I've got some new tricks, new motivations (it's pathetic how much we love checklists), and new focus. Soon, I can tell you at length about all my new experiments, adventures, and searches. But not today.